Colorado Sprints Past Wyoming, 37-20

BOULDER — Colorado successfully broke in the Ralphie VII era with a 37-20 win over Front Range rival Wyoming Saturday night at Folsom Field. The 53,442 fans in attendance witnessed the inaugural sprint from the real-life buffalo and then the return of quarterback Kaidon Salter to the Buffaloes' starting lineup.

"Ralphie did a wonderful job, doing the doggone thing that she did," head coach Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders exclaimed. "And I heard they brought her out for the second half. So, I love it. I wish I could get a chance to just watch. I don't, I'm too locked in. I'm ready to go."

Salter started the night completing three of his first four attempts on his way to a 304-yard and three-touchdown night. The transfer signal caller closed the night with 18 completions on 28 attempts and picked up 35 of his 86 yards rushing on his way to a late-fourth-quarter touchdown.

"We changed it up a little bit on how we prepared the practice script, practice schedule, and we held each other accountable, not only holding the players accountable, but also coaches holding each other accountable as well," Coach Prime noted. "And accountability works when you're open to it. So, the young men couldn't wait to go out there and perform, and they had a chip on their shoulder because they wanted to prove they could do better than the show we had in Houston. But it was tremendous, and I'm proud of them, but we didn't finish like I wanted to finish."

Colorado (2-2) totaled nearly 500 total yards on offense, racking up a season-high 497 yards in front of the 2nd largest crowd in the last 17 seasons.

"Every chance that I got today, I tried to take advantage of the opportunity," Salter explained. "And I know that I got big guys out there, big playmakers, and if I throw it up, it's 75/25 their way."

Of Salter's nine targeted receivers, it was Omarion Miller who hauled in six receptions for a game-high 88 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown. Sincere Brown capped the longest play of the night, finishing off a 68-yard touchdown reception, his second long TD of the season after a 71-yarder against Delaware. On defense, Arden Walker stood out by recording 1.5 sacks, six tackles, and a safety.

Wyoming (2-2) was led by sophomore quarterback Kaden Anderson, who completed 11-of-25 passes for 176 yards and threw two touchdowns. Samuel Harris led the Cowboys on the ground, rushing for 126 yards on 19 attempts. Chris Durr and Eric Richardson each accounted for a touchdown in the air.

How it Happened
The first quarter came and went, resulting in 15 minutes of scoreless football. But the Buffs broke through three plays into the second quarter, with Salter finding Miller for 29 yards in the back of the endzone for the score. Alajandro Mata added the extra point to put the Buffs up 7-0 with 14:12 to play in the first half.

Wyoming's offense stalled inside the red zone thanks to Makari Vickers breaking up a pass in the endzone and holding Wyoming to a field goal after a 10-play, 65-yard drive.

Colorado responded with a five-play 81-yard drive, highlighted by a 68-yard touchdown pass to Brown at 7:37, followed by another scoring drive capped by Simeon Price's 1-yard rush at 3:08, his second straight game with a touchdown and the first two rushing TDs of his career, extending the lead to 21–3 by the end of the quarter.

Colorado went into the break with 242 yards on offense and limited Wyoming to just 114 yards – 50 of which came on one play. Salter was 10-for-18 in the half for 192 yards in the air and 20 yards on the ground.

The Buffs extended the lead to 28–3 with a quick 47-yard strike from Salter to Joseph Williams at 13:55, followed by a successful extra point by Mata. The touchdown pass was Salter's 59th passing TD of his career.

Wyoming responded swiftly as Anderson connected with Eric Richardson for a 41-yard touchdown pass at 12:25, and Sandvik's extra point reduced the deficit to 28–10. Wyoming continued to gain momentum with a 38-yard field goal by Erik Sandvik at 3:30, narrowing the score to 28–13.

Colorado's Micah Welch nearly scored with a 44-yard rush inside the final minute of the third quarter but fumbled, allowing Wyoming to recover at their own 1-yard line, halting a 5-play 67-yard drive.

The teams flipped the field at the start of the fourth quarter, and Walker sacked Wyoming's Anderson in the end zone for a safety at 14:55, increasing their lead to 30-13. The 2-point play was the Buffs' first safety credited to a player since Anthony Perkins in 2010, almost 15 years to the day on Sept. 18, 2010.

"It felt great," Walker said of his safety. "I was just happy to make a play for my team. We were all, before that timeout, we were making sure that we wanted to make a big play, and I'm glad I was able to do it."

Wyoming responded with an 80-yard drive, culminating in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Durr with 4:32 remaining, trimming the deficit to 30-20 after Sandvik's extra point.

Later, Colorado's Salter secured the victory with a 35-yard touchdown run at 1:46, making the score 37-20 after Mata's successful PAT. Wyoming's final drive was unable to produce another score, solidifying the Buffaloes' win.

Up Next
The Buffaloes will dive back into Big 12 play next week, hosting BYU at Folsom Field (8:15 p.m. MT).

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Team Stats

Kaidon Salter

Players Mentioned

Sincere Brown

Omarion Miller

Simeon Price

Kaidon Salter

Makari Vickers

Arden Walker

Micah Welch

Joseph Williams

Players Mentioned

Sincere Brown

Omarion Miller

Simeon Price

Kaidon Salter

Makari Vickers

Arden Walker

Micah Welch

Joseph Williams